


Dreaming From the Seabed

by JazzRaft



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, MerMay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-29
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-03-29 11:22:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19018900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JazzRaft/pseuds/JazzRaft
Summary: He’d almost beaten the storm home. But the needs of a scraped up, swearing-louder-than-the-storm merman with his tail caught in a crab cage outweighed Noct's own.





	Dreaming From the Seabed

“It sure does smell good, but… um…”

“But it looks like piss. Yeah, I know.”

Noctis set the concoction on the edge of the tub, coaxing it closer to the creature’s hand. Nyx chuckled, his laugh as low and coarse as the thunderous collapse of the sea squalling against the shore. The storm sounded deceptively distant from within the sturdy stone walls of Noct’s house, a muffled thrum rather than a deafening wail. As if he could step out his back door and watch it rumble by on the horizon, safe and dry from his little cottage tucked within Caem Cove.

Well they were safe, of that Noctis didn’t doubt, no matter how much the eaves might leak and screech overhead. Dry, on the other hand, he was not. He was convinced that he’d be wringing out rainwater and wet sand and all the rest of the ocean bile dredged up by the storm for days to come. His clothes were stiff with salt where he’d hung them over the fireplace; his long hair felt as heavy as a wet towel over his head; and every time he itched his beard, he came away with sand underneath his fingernails.

He’d almost beaten it all home too, when it really was as far out to sea as it sounded. But the needs of a scraped up, swearing-louder-than-the-storm merman with his tail caught in a crab cage outweighed Noct’s need for a hot shower even more.

“I thought coffee was all you humans ever drink,” Nyx said, tilting the rim of the cup to inspect the steamy golden tonic within. “What’s this?”

“It’s an anti-inflammatory tea recipe. Might help with the swelling.”

Noctis nodded at the thick black fin folded over the edge of the bathtub. It was as smooth as polished leather, yet as delicate as a gossamer veil; like wisps of midnight smoke spilling across the ancient porcelain. The cage hadn’t torn the flesh – the creature’s twisting and tugging had done more damage than the cheap contraption could – but throbbing pink welts stood up in outrage between the membranes. He’d twisted his ankle, essentially, straining his fin in his haste to escape before the storm made landfall.

Nyx swirled the contents of the teacup, thoughtfully. “Don’t know if my body will react to it the same way yours does.”

“It’s all natural stuff,” Noctis said, suddenly feeling self-conscious that he might inadvertently poison one of the sea’s best kept secrets by dietary incompatibility alone. “Lemon, ginger, turmeric… uhh, there’s honey in it, and a little cinnamon, too.”

Nyx watched him rattle off the ingredients with the keen, quiet interest of a harbor seal peering up from the shallows in anticipation of treats. He gave the tea another experimental sniff, a swirl, shrugged, and then took a deep sip of the yellow brew. He seemed far less worried about the effects of the ingredients than Noctis was.  Somehow, he didn’t find comfort in that – this was, after all, the same creature that managed to get caught in a trap designed specifically for crustaceans no bigger than Noct’s head. How something the size of a shark – with apposable thumbs no less – managed to get _stuck_ in that…

Nyx withdrew from the cup with a hum of surprised satisfaction, as casual and confident as a man who believed every one of his life’s blunders was by design rather than by mistake. “Hm. Not bad. Tastes… earthy.”

Noctis snorted. “Don’t know if that would be considered tasty up around here, but as long as you like it.”

“I do! Feeling better already.”

Nyx lifted the ends of his fin to show off Noct’s miracle tea, but flinched, and ended up splashing his rescuer with bathwater as it dropped back down. Noctis squeezed his eyes shut against the salty sprinkling. It wasn’t nearly as briny as seawater, even with a fish-man marinating in it for the past hour, but the pound of table-salt he’d dragged up from his pantry to dump inside stung just the same.

“Sorry,” Nyx hissed, embarrassed. He tucked his face into the teacup and took another drink to spite the soreness.

“It’s alright.” Noctis blotted off the droplets with his sleeve. “It won’t fix you in a night. But it should take the edge off, at least until the storm passes.”

Nyx huffed across his tea, blowing curls of steam between him and Noct. Noctis didn’t take his annoyance personally. He’d done all he could to accommodate the creature, but a cracked bathtub full of fetid tap water and cheap salt he got on sale (buy one, get one free; how could he pass on that deal?) was a poor substitute for the uncharted vastness of the ocean deep.

The storm growled and groaned around them, crashing around Noct’s home like an angry river trying to move a boulder. It would be a long night yet of thunderclaps and lightning bolts and wind blasts conducted above the rabid sea, foaming at the crests of every wave and clawing at the shore. He couldn’t have let Nyx go in that. It was too late by the time he wrestled him from the rocks. The currents were too strong, all the rest of the sea life long since retreated from the shallows. They knew better than to fight the storm when it arrived, escaping to the depths before it raked them off of land.

Noctis suspected that Nyx knew better, too. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have let himself be man-handled onto Noct’s bike to be carted further up the beach than any fish ever wanted to be. It was better to be stranded than shredded between the combined fury of sea and sky.

“So,” Nyx said. “You’re dealing with the discovery of the century awfully well.”

“Discovery of the century, huh?” Noctis chuckled “Think an awful lot of yourself. For a fish.”

Nyx grinned, extending an arm down the length of his body. “I’d say I’m a pretty decent specimen to represent my species.”

Noctis forced himself not to stare, now that they were settling down from the wild flight to shelter beneath the then infant storm. By human standards, yes, Nyx would have been considered a “specimen;” if not for the evenly tanned, defined musculature of his chest, then for the square jaw and the sharp blue eyes and the charming, crooked smile crinkling the small arrows tattooed at the corners of his brow. His tail flowed from his torso like an ink drop in water; like liquid obsidian curled in a bottle. Though Nyx sat perfectly still, his fins seemed like they were in a constant state of motion, floating gently against the walls of the tub.

Noctis thought it was beautiful. He thought everything from the ocean was. Nyx embodied all of it: the rough power of the undertow tugging a boat out to where land didn’t exist, the dark mystery of what was beyond the dip of the sand that fell into the abyss, and the bright, golden glint of sunlight over the deep blue tundra that reached out for infinity.

“Wouldn’t know,” he said to Nyx’s expectant smile. “No frame of reference.”

Nyx pouted, playing at being insulted. “Take my word for it, then. I’ll be an excellent baseline for all of your scientific studies.”

“You really think I’m going to send you off to a lab somewhere?”

Nyx looked at him with that same, curious stare from before, like he was watching Noctis fill in the bubbles of an exam sheet and hoping he would pass the test. It was only for a moment, and then he was smiling again, as if what he said next was some sort of secret, just between the two of them.

“No. Not you.”

“Oh? And how do you know that?”

Noctis shifted, unfolding his legs from beneath him to stretch along the floor. His knees were starting to ache from where they pressed into the tile. He folded his arms against the tub, leaning his head against them as he scrutinized the coy creature.

Nyx shrugged, slow and lazy. “Mer-magic?”

“Uh huh.”

“You’re face to face with a mythical merman in your bathtub, and you’re telling me you don’t believe in magic?”

“I didn’t say that I don’t believe in magic. I just don’t believe _you_ ,” Noctis teased.

“Wow,” Nyx laughed. “You sure are mean enough to be a mad scientist.”

“I could be.”

“You’re not.”

“And how would you know?” Noctis asked again.

Nyx tapped the rim of his teacup, eyes narrowing as he considered the man before him. Noctis vaguely wondered if this was how the fish at the aquarium felt; stared at, ceaselessly, by strange beings from another world while they just drifted along the glass. There was no tank between the two of them though, no barrier between him and the unknowable keeper of the sea’s endless secrets. He probably should have been scared, but whereas the rest of the cape started screaming in a panic with the swell of the storm sirens, Noctis had always strode home along the sand just as slowly as he did every day.

All the sea ever asked of him was respect. He didn’t find it very hard to give, especially given how much the world had asked of him in comparison.

“You don’t look the part,” Nyx finally confessed.

“Were you expecting rubber gloves and a white coat?” Noctis chuckled.

“You’re too handsome.” Nyx smiled, taking a delicate sip of his tea. “More like an exiled prince than a reclusive crackpot.”

Noctis pressed his mouth between the folds of his arms to conceal his smile. He pressed his forehead into his hand, and tried not to laugh. “Knew it,” he mumbled. “I’m dreaming.”

“What? _”_ Nyx laughed in disbelief.

“I’m being hit on by a fish drinking tea in my bathtub. Sure there’s a therapist out there that’ll have a field day with this one.”

He dragged his hand up through his hair, tugging at the dense tangles as if he could pull himself out of his head and back to reality. But when he lifted his eyes, Nyx was still there, blinking at him with that same, curious twinkle to his eyes. _Ah well_ , Noctis thought. No pinching himself from this one, it seemed. He’d just have to see it through until he woke up.

“Is it really so hard to believe?”

“Well, I’m certainly no prince,” Noctis sighed. “And I’m not nearly as smart as a scientist. A nobody in a nowhere town, catching the biggest something in the sea? Yeah. Kind of hard to believe.”

Nyx’s smile was different this time. The sly crease of his lips softened, like the edges of summer clouds floating in once the storm had passed. He finished the tea Noctis made him, setting the cup on the tub with a deliberate _tap_ , using it to make a point.

“Well, I’ll always think you’re somebody. You’re the one that saved me.”

Noctis let one arm drop over the edge of the tub, fingers grazing the water. It was lukewarm now. “Kind of a shoddy rescue, if you ask me.”

“You’re not the one on the rescued end of it. If you ask _me_ , I’d say I’m pretty lucky. Free drinks, spa service, good company…” Nyx’s fin skated along Noct’s elbow where it rested on the tub. “Could have washed up somewhere a lot worse.”

Yeah. He was dreaming alright. He was no savior, no one deserving of this much praise. He’d dreamt up merfolk as a child before, rescuing fair sea maidens in his games of make-believe on the steps of this very house. The nostalgia and the solitude must have finally caught up to him. Maybe the storm had really scared him worse than he let himself feel. Maybe he just conjured up a comforting fantasy so he didn’t have to weather this one alone.

“I should sleep,” Noctis murmured.

He dragged his fingers in circles along the surface of the water, creating whirlpools to mimic the ones roaring beyond the coast. Maybe he would wake up sooner if he just closed his eyes. Maybe the storm would have moved on by then. But he liked this dream, and he didn’t want to forget the enchanting creature when he awoke. The sunlight always chased away the memory of his dreams far too quickly for him to commit them to paper for safe-keeping.

“And leave me all by my lonesome?” Nyx asked. “Who will save me if I get my tail caught in the drain?”

Noctis laughed, burying his face in his arms. “I bet you wish I had dreamed up that part.”

“A crab cage,” Nyx muttered. “Nearly killed by a _crab cage_. That’s the least believable part of this dream of yours.”

Noctis kept laughing, turning and slumping down with his back against the tub so he could rest his head against the edge. It was all too ridiculous to be real. And he was just too tired to keep it up. He closed his eyes.

“I’ll try not to dream you in distress anymore,” Noctis promised, the words dragging themselves from his lips.

“And I won’t drown you in your sleep. Even though you are handsome enough to swim for eternity with.”

Noctis snorted, then slept, listening to the water lap against the sides of the bathtub like the bay beneath the harbor.

When he next opened his eyes, that’s exactly what he heard. Beyond the stone walls, the screaming of the storm had long since silenced. He heard the gentle _ding_ of the harbor bells and the morning calls of the gulls picking the beach clean of the storm’s refuse for breakfast. He heard the distant cries of ship captains over cups of coffee as they all gathered along the docks to bemoan any damages suffered by the tempest.

All back to normal. Back to the casual crash and hiss of the tide brushing over the sands. Back to the ordinary.

The deep yawn next to his ear blanketed over those ordinary sounds like a whale song. Noctis blinked, slowly, then blinked again, wincing when he turned his stiff neck to face the bleary eyes peering at him over the lip of the tub. Nyx smiled, drowsily, lifting his tail from the water.

“That magic tea of yours really works. But if you don’t mind, I’m dying to try a cup of your coffee.”

**Author's Note:**

> On a dark and stormy night not unlike the one in this, I finally finished something for MerMay! I've never tried my hand at merpeople before, but I've always wanted to, and I'm happy I managed to finish something at last. Of course, it had to be for my favorite boys :') I hope you enjoy and have had a happy MerMay!


End file.
